Fun With Rugby Internationals Handicapping, Week 3

Wanted to get this out.  May have an update later today if we can get some more totals. Last week:  0-1 and still trying to figure out how RSA/Eng became such a track meet.  More on that below. So last week we were supposed to get a really good look at how these test series …

The Tuesday Update — The English Have Ruined Everything Again Edition

The proprietors of the Six Nations clearly set up this year's fixture list with an eye toward an England-Ireland final round clash for all of the marbles.  It seemed logical, right?  Clearly those two squads would dispatch the other teams and meet with everything on the line at the end of it all? Ireland held …

Tuesday Update – The Huge Letdown Edition

Hey, didn't you used to be that team that was going to dethrone the All Blacks? As of last Friday, it seemed like England and Ireland were on a collision course toward a final-round Six Nations encounter with the winner taking both the competition and a Grand Slam. That final round fixture between Ireland and …

Tuesday Update – The Grand Slam? Edition

Hey, didn't you used to be the USA Eagles? After dominating Chile on Sunday, the Eagles are 3-0 in this year's Americas Rugby Championship, with only road matches in Uruguay and Brazil standing between the US and a clean grand slam in this year's ARC. While the ARC is not exactly the Six Nations in …

Tuesday Update – The It’s Always Sunny in California Edition

  Hey, didn't you used to be another US-Argentina XV draw? If you were familiar with Eagle Flanker Hanco Germishuys prior to the 95th minute (or whenever that game on Saturday finally ended), then your Eagle rugby knowledge is impressive or troubling, one of the two. Anyhow, it was Hanco (he's going to be one …

What’d We Learn This Weekend – The Pre- and Mid-Game Diet Edition

On the one hand, the past weekend's international fixtures were thrilling to watch for the most part (hey, didn't you used to be the Springboks?).  On the other hand, while the games were entertaining, the results were generally within the realm of predictability.  Let's have a look at the major results: Instead of oranges, New …

Way Too Early Look at RWC 2019 Pools

Journey with me on an obscenely early trip through the draw for Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan. For now, while we'll look at each Pool, we're going to basically ignore the remaining qualifying spots (Europe 1, Playoff Winner, Africa 1, Repechage Winner, Americas 2), as the teams filling those spots probably won't figure into …